BILL OF THE WEEK January 8, 2012 THE OWNERS of Archer Street, the Soho members’ bar that opened shortly before Christmas, “prefer to remain anonymous”. But comedian Graham Norton and ex-cricketer Sir Ian Botham have been among the first to grace London’s first Billecart-Salmon champagne bar, as have – naturally – ten still-solvent investment bankers. The theatreland venue, where bar-staff perform numbers [...]
Art market is a real winner January 8, 2012 THE art market proved beautiful for investors last year, with a 10.2 per cent growth in prices shown by the Mei Moses World All Art Index. The index, which measures returns on art mainly by tracking repeat sale prices in New York and London, was boosted by growing Chinese demand and estimate-beating auctions. They included [...]
Bristol-Myers plans $2.5bn drugs merger January 8, 2012 GLOBAL biopharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb has announced plans to buy drug-testing firm Inhibitex for around $2.5bn (£1.62bn), gaining a frontrunner in the race to treat hepatitis C (HCV). Inhibitex, a clinical-stage drugs company which focuses on serious infections, has urged its shareholders to support this Bristol-Myers offer of $26-per-share – a 62 per cent increase [...]
Olympus could sue executives January 8, 2012 OLYMPUS could sue current and former executives who were involved in the $1.7bn (£1.1bn) accounts scandal exposed last year for more than 90bn yen (£0.78bn) after an independent report into management responsibility at the Tokyo-based company advocated this measure. This has led to speculation that Shuichi Takayama, president of Olympus Corp since October and one [...]
Nissan US to make engines for Daimler and Infiniti January 8, 2012 NISSAN Motors and Daimler said yesterday they would produce Mercedes-Benz gasoline engines at Nissan’s Tennessee factory from 2014 to be fitted on Mercedes and Infiniti models. Production capacity of the four-cylinder engines will reach 250,000 a year at full ramp-up, the companies said. The project is the latest between Daimler and the alliance of Nissan [...]
Founder of Jagex made £75m in sale January 8, 2012 Andrew Gower, the Cambridge boy who founded computer gaming firm Jagex with his brother in the late 1990s, pocketed £75m last year when private equity firm Insight Venture Partners bought his one-third stake in the online games company. The deal took place in February 2011 when Insight Venture Partners upped their 35 per cent investment, [...]
Company fraud grows 50 per cent to hit a record £2bn, says new report January 8, 2012 COMPANY fraud hit £2bn for the first time in 2011 – up 50 per cent on the previous year – a survey published today reveals. The 2011 FraudTrack report by accountants BDO – which collates data from all reported fraud cases over £50,000 – shows a dramatic rise in both the number and average value [...]
Iran close to enriching uranium, says official January 8, 2012 IRAN will in the “near future” start enriching uranium deep inside a mountain, a senior official said, a move likely to further antagonise Western powers which suspect Tehran is seeking nuclear weapons capability. A decision by the Islamic Republic to conduct sensitive atomic activities at an underground site – offering better protection against any enemy [...]
Eurozone New Year is dawn of the living dead January 8, 2012 SO we’re up and running. 2012 is fully underway and here I am with the same question I had in January last year. We’ve always presumed that whatever happens to the Eurozone, one way or another Northern Europe – specifically Germany – would eventually have to pay for it. What’s never been clearly answered is [...]
Lettings agency put up for sale January 8, 2012 A LETTINGS agency that plans to attract ex-City workers and bankers to expand its network of franchises has announced its intention to float on the Alternative Investment Market in a listing that will raise £8m including £3m in new money. Belvoir Lettings, which runs 142 franchised offices across the UK will be valued at around [...]
